Thursday night was the North East Hustings. Andy Whitworth had put a huge amount of time and effort into the hustings so we were hoping for a good turnout. Still, we were really worried (but not admitting it) that the local biking population might not be bothered or even care about the future 0f biking in the UK. Continue reading →

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ALL BIKERS, BIKE CLUBS AND SCOOTER CLUBS.

NE MAG have arranged an election debate with the main political parties, which will take place on:

Thursday 16th April 2015, 7:00pm

at

The Salutation Pub, Dryburn View, Framwellgate Moor, Durham. DH1 5AP.

I am glad to be able to advise that Lembit Opik, MAG Director of Communications & Public Affairs, will chair the meeting.

The meeting is open to all. You do not have to be a member of MAG. The candidates will be asked questions on subjects as: PTW’s in bus lanes; sentencing of drivers who cause fatal accidents; current process to get a full motorcycle licence; parking for PTW’s; road safety; level of vehicle excise duty. Plus the meeting will be opened to questions from the floor.

Let’s show the politicians that bikers are voters. This is your opportunity to get the opinion of the major political parties. It may help you to decide how to vote on May 7th.

Last year the Durham MAG group decided to focus any charity fundraising on a single charity and chose The Soldiers Sailors and Air Force Association (SSAFA) because some of us are ex forces and many of our parents had had some sort of SSAFA involvement at some point in their lives, our parents being the WWII generation.

SSAFA are the oldest of the military charities, indeed we think the original, pre-dating the British Legion by a good many years.

Durham believes that raising money for riders’ rights comes first but some charity work gives us access to areas and other fundraising opportunities as well as raising our profile that we would otherwise miss out on. How we were going to do this was a quandary, then up stepped Steve and Denise Gray and offered to re-launch the Tan Hill Resprung Spring Thing. Continue reading →

Following on from many MAG successes across the country, Durham MAG have also managed to get PTW’s in bus lanes. Below is a time line of what we did and who we contacted, with any luck it may help another MAG group along the way.

March 2012
Durham MAG decided to review the access rights of powered two wheel vehicles (PTW’s) in County Durham. We found there was no consistency from one bus lane to another. The situation was: Buses only lanes / Buses and cycles lanes / Buses, PTW’s and cycles lanes. A member of Durham MAG was “volunteered” to be the leader of this cause, and contact Durham County Council (DCC). The “volunteer” made initial contact with his local councillor, detailing the inconsistencies in the bus lanes, and asking for the contact details for the Chairperson of the Highways Committee. Continue reading →

Durham MAG within the North East MAG Region have been campaigning very hard for many months to bring these plans to fruition. Our initial requests and ideas were put to the County Council and since then they have taken several unexpected turns during the lengthy and complex negotiations and discussions. Continue reading →

Durham MAG will be holding their Annual General Meeting, to elect the local representatives for the group. Everyone is welcome however only full members vote will count, so please remember to bring your valid membership card.

Well as Noddy Holder said, “Its Christmas!” so it was time for the Durham MAG Group Annual Christmas Dinner.

The Colpitts couldn’t help us out with this one so we were reduced to looking at the remaining 3 of our pubs, the John Duck doesn’t do food nor does the Angel so we booked to Elm Tree: it was their biggest booking of the season and the first! How’s that? If you’re talking to Steve the barman he has a bit of a tail to tell about the difference between entertaining 30-40 odd bikers at an evening do and two women with two kids during the afternoon. Ask him, next time you’re in, its funny.Continue reading →

Motorcycle parking bays can be found throughout Durham City, providing designated space for parking, however Motorcycles can also park in pay and display bays without time limit and without charge. Motorcycles are not, however, permitted to park in bicycle stands.

When parking on-street please try to take up the minimum amount of room by parking at 90 degrees to the kerb.Continue reading →

Durham MAG challenge hazardous humps Road humps on a bend were bad enough, then they painted them

Durham MAG have begun a campaign to have dangerous road humps removed from a stretch of road in Bowburn, County Durham. The local highways department installed road humps as a traffic calming measure to slow cars and trucks down on a busy link road where there were problems with speeding motorists.

Unfortunately they did not take into account their effect on two wheel users, for whom they pose a serious threat. The humps are at the entrance to a 90 degree blind bend and force riders entering the bend to either ride in the potholed flooded gutter or in the middle of the road where they compete for road space with oncoming traffic.